My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
(Isaiah 56:7)
Jesus Christ is the center of everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is the eternal Son of the Father, the Word through whom all things were made. And he came to us in the simplicity and humility of our frail mortal flesh, sent by the Father, incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin, crucified for our sins, risen and living in glory at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus is also the center of the life of his Church. Which means He is also the center of our life here at San Pedro, in our humble corner of southwest Florida.
That is most visible when we gather for Mass – the memorial of his saving sacrifice which He himself gave us. And he told us to “Do this in memory of me.” What a grace it was this past week to welcome Bishop Emilio, our shepherd after the heart of Christ the Good Shepherd, who celebrated Mass with us last Wednesday. What a great way to be drawn together in the highest form or prayer, members of the Body of Christ.
We are preparing a humble corner here at San Pedro where people can have easy and secure access to come and spend time in the Eucharistic presence of Jesus, the center of our lives.
We hope that this Chapel will be a “house of prayer for all peoples”, as the prophet Isaiah described in the first reading today. Out of fear, God’s people had turned away from him, and relied on alliances with political powers to keep them secure. They were scattered in exile. But even there, God showed his power through them to the foreign nations where they found themselves. And God called his people and all the nations to come back to the new Jerusalem.
In the coming weeks, we will be inviting people to register for regular hours of Adoration. The Adoration Chapel is not meant to be an empty room, but a house of prayer for all peoples. The fixtures and furnishings are coming together. Our Eucharistic Lord will be reserved there in reverence, with all the humility that He showed when he walked this earth and gave us this gift of his abiding presence.
I invite you to come and fill this humble Chapel with prayer. For now, we have Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 5-9 pm in the Church. This time is convenient and sustainable for us – the Adoration Chapel will make this form of prayer available in a way that can be more convenient for you. If you have not experienced Eucharistic Adoration, please come and spend some time in prayer with Jesus on Wednesday evening. Let him speak to your heart as only He knows how. Jesus, the center of everything, desires also to be the center of your heart. And he show you a great mystery – that you are the center of His Sacred Heart.
-Fr. Tom
